REGION — Human beings around the world have been celebrating New Year’s Day for at least 4000 years. According to history.com (tinyurl.com/qalbja5) ancient records show that the Babylonians celebrated the New Year on “the first new moon following the vernal equinox.” On that day they held a religious festival called Akitu, which is also the Babylonian word for barley, which was harvested in early spring.

The early Roman calendar, believed to have emerged some 800 years B.C., also began the New Year in the spring, on the vernal equinox. The year had 10 months and 304 days and did not synch up with the years. When Julius Caesar came along, he decided to fix the problem with the calendar, and in 47 B.C. he introduced the Julian calendar, which is similar to the Gregorian calendar that many countries use today. As part of the change, Caesar declared that January 1 was the first day of the year. Romans celebrated by exchanging gifts, decorating their homes with branches and offering sacrifices to the gods.

In medieval Europe, Christians decided that New Year’s Day should be a more important day in their religion. Thus, Christmas Day and at times other religious days would serve as New Year’s Day. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII, while fixing the errors Caesar made with his calendar, reestablished January 1 as New Year’s Day and also came up with a more accurate way of calculating leap years.

Since then, January 1 is recognized as New Year’s Day by many countries and the day has become one of the most celebrated days on the planet, although dozens of countries celebrate other days as the first day of the year.